This application is based on and claims the priority date of German Application No. 101 32 711.0, filed on Jul. 5, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The invention relates to a device on a carding machine, a cleaner or the like for detecting and removing foreign particles, in particular, trash particles, husk naps, seed remnants and the like from textile fiber goods.
Separation knives for removing waste material, trash and dust are used on carding machines and cleaners. On cleaners, these knives are used in connection with saw-tooth rollers, while on carding machines they are used in particular with licker-ins. However, they can also be assigned to pin rollers. The knives are frequently used in combination with suction hoods or suction pipes. The suction hoods in that case must transport off the trash, short-fiber particles and dust particles in the airflow. The knives are adjusted in a stationary fashion, meaning the knife location, the distance between knife tip and roller and the angular position of the knife-separation flank relative to the roller tangent are constant during the machine operation. The disadvantage is that changing the individual adjustment parameters is frequently difficult and can therefore be effected only if the machine is stopped. The distance between knife edge (tip) and the saw-tooth clothing on the licker-in can be between 0.2 and 0.6 mm, depending on the fiber material to be processed. The adjustment must be made manually, while the machine is stopped, using a so-called distance gauge. The knife, for example, is adjusted to adapt it to different types of materials, in particular to different types of dirt or the dirt content. In practical operations, the separating knife is designed as a one-piece, continuous knife blade that extends over the width of the machine. One disadvantage of the known separating knives is that an adaptation to locally different contents or local concentrations or the adaptation of individual elements to foreign bodies in the fiber material, such as waste, naps, seed fragments, trash particles and the like, is not possible.
An object of the invention therefore is to create a device of the aforementioned type that avoids the previously mentioned disadvantages and, in particular, provides an easy way to improve the effectiveness of the separating device.
This object is solved with a device comprising at least one detecting device that extends across the width of the machine, for example, a camera with electronic evaluation device, and, in a downstream direction, means for selectively deflecting portions of textile fiber material flowing through the machine and for removing unwanted particles. The means for selectively deflecting and for removing comprises a plurality of parallel elements that are able to be individually activated for selective removal of the unwanted particles. In particular, such a device on a carding machine, a cleaner or the like for detecting and removing troublesome particles, in particular, trash particles, husk naps, seed remnants, and the like, from textile fiber goods, comprises at least one detection device across the width of the machine, for example, a camera with electronic evaluation device for the detection, and in a downstream direction, a separating device for removing the particles. The separating device is characterized in that a multitude of guide elements are present across the width covered by the detection device, and the separating device can selectively deflect the regions of the fiber material with the interfering particles. By so doing, the separating device permits selective separation by one or more separation knives.
An individual adaptation or an increase in the separation of individual foreign bodies or local concentrations of several foreign bodies is easily possible because the many guide elements provided can selectively deflect the fiber material. The effectiveness of the separating device is improved considerably in this way, wherein the separating out is focused only on the individual particles and is thus strengthened. An additional advantage is that the separating device does not affect the fiber material regions that do not contain foreign bodies.
The invention may include various additional features. These include, for example:
movable guide elements, which may be actuated individually under control of the detection device, as to both time of deflection and which element or elements are deflected;
guide elements having individual controllable adjustment devices, which may have inductive, pneumatic, and/or piezoelectric elements;
an optical detection device, like a camera, which may be connected to an electronic image-processing device, which may further include a control device (like a computer); and
a joint suction device may be used across the device to remove the foreign bodies.
The invention comprises an additional, advantageous device on a cleaner, a carding machine or the like for cleaning and opening textile fiber material, particularly cotton, with a rotating clothing or pin roller that is installed downstream of the feeding device. The roller is enclosed by a housing having at least one opening for removing impurities such as trash particles, leaf remnants, seed husks, stem remnants, sand and the like, wherein at least one separating knife is assigned to the clothing or pins of the clothing or pin roller. A knife blade facing in the direction counter to the rotational direction for the clothing or pin roller is arranged at the opening. The separating knife consists of a plurality of knife elements, and the distance between the individual knife elements and the clothing or pins for the clothing or pin roller can be changed.
The separation can easily be changed or adapted individually to locally different contents or local concentrations, if necessary, up to the size of the individual foreign body, since the separating knife consists of a plurality of knife elements, for which the distance to the roller can be adjusted or changed individually. A defined separation takes place. In the process, a selective short-term separation (a foreign body is detected and separated out individually), as well as a long-term differentiated adjustment of the individual knife elements, is possible across the width of the machine, e.g., for counteracting detected accumulations of foreign bodies across the width of the machine.
In another embodiment, the invention comprises a device on a cleaner, a carding machine or the like for cleaning and opening textile fiber material, said device comprising a rotating clothing or pin roller that is installed downstream of a feeding device, and which is surrounded by a housing with at least one opening for removing impurities such as trash particles, leaf remnants, seed husks, stem fragments, sand and the like. The invention further comprises at least one separating knife that is assigned to the clothing or the pins of the clothing or pin roller, which separating knife has a knife edge pointing in a direction counter to a rotational direction of the clothing or/pin roller, and which is arranged at the at least one opening. This is characterized in that the separating knife consists of a plurality of knife elements and that the distance between the individual knife elements and the clothing or the pins of the clothing or pin roller can be changed. Further modifications to the invention are also possible, including, for example:
the spacings between the knife elements and the clothing or the pins of the clothing or pin roller may be adjusted permanently or adaptively (temporarily) and may be adjusted in dependence upon factors like the amount, accumulation, etc., of impurities;
the timing of selection of/spacing changes between knife elements may be under the control of the detection device;
the knife elements may comprise an elastic material (e.g., steel);
an adjustment device for the knife elements may comprise electromagnetic elements;
a joint suction device may be provided to the knife elements, to remove the impurities; and
guide elements may be installed upstream of the separating knife.